Icelandic Geography and Nature

Geography and Nature

240 practice questions, each with the answer and an explanation.

All 240 questions

  1. Complete the sentence about Sun Voyager with the correct year: The full-sized Sun Voyager was eventually unveiled on Sæbraut on the birthday of the city of Reykjavík, 18 August ______.
  2. Complete the sentence about Höfði with the correct year: The city of Reykjavík purchased the house in ______, and restored it.
  3. Complete the sentence about Höfði with the correct year: On 25 September ______, on the building's 100th birthday, Höfði was damaged in a fire.
  4. Complete the sentence about Höfði with the correct year: In ______, Einar Benediktsson's statue, by Ásmundur Sveinsson, was moved to a spot near Höfði house.
  5. Complete the sentence about Hofsós with the correct year: The Drangey Exhibition is in Pakkhús, the Hofsós warehouse built in ______, during the time of the trading monopoly.
  6. Complete the sentence about Iceland with the correct year: During the occupation of Denmark in World War II, Iceland voted overwhelmingly to become a republic in ______, ending its remaining formal ti…
  7. Complete the sentence about Westfjords with the correct year: The Vestfjarðagöng road tunnel from ______ has improved that situation.
  8. Complete the sentence about Westfjords with the correct year: In ______, 32 shipwrecked Basque whalers were killed by locals, after which the magistrate made it law that any Basque person seen in the…
  9. Complete the sentence about Snæfellsnes with the correct year: Killer whale pods are often found off the western part of the peninsula and many other whales can be seen, noting that some whaling has b…
  10. Complete the sentence about Snæfellsnes with the correct year: White-tailed eagle populations in Iceland only started recovering in the 1970s after being a protected species from ______ and other bird…
  11. Complete the sentence about Grímsey with the correct year: In ______, a movable monument – an eight-tonne stone sphere dubbed "Orbis et Globus" – was placed on the circle, and is periodically moved to…
  12. Complete the sentence about Grímsey with the correct year: The Arctic Circle has crossed Grímsey since ______, but will move northward from the island around the year 2047.
  13. Complete the sentence about Kolbeinsey with the correct year: As of April ______, two small skerries remained visible at low tide.
  14. Complete the sentence about Kolbeinsey with the correct year: A helipad was constructed in ______ and further efforts to reinforce the island were discussed in the Icelandic parliament in the 1990s.
  15. Complete the sentence about Kolbeinsey with the correct year: In March ______, it was reported that helicopters were no longer able to land on Kolbeinsey.
  16. Complete the sentence about Kolbeinsey with the correct year: In an August ______ video, Tom Scott, an English YouTuber, chartered a plane to confirm the continued existence of Kolbeinsey; the two ske…
  17. Complete the sentence about Kolbeinsey with the correct year: A submarine eruption was reported in ______ near the Kolbeinsey Ridge northwest of Grímsey.
  18. Complete the sentence about Mid-Atlantic Ridge with the correct year: A ridge under the northern Atlantic Ocean was first inferred by Matthew Fontaine Maury in ______, based on soundings by the USS Do…
  19. Complete the sentence about Mid-Atlantic Ridge with the correct year: The existence of the ridge and its extension into the South Atlantic was confirmed during the expedition of HMS Challenger in ____…
  20. Complete the sentence about Mid-Atlantic Ridge with the correct year: The existence of such a ridge was confirmed by sonar in ______ and was found to extend around Cape Agulhas into the Indian Ocean b…
  21. Complete the sentence about Silfra with the correct year: The sessions continued until the year ______ when it was then replaced by the High Court until it was reinstated about 50 years later.
  22. Complete the sentence about Keflavík International Airport with the correct year: Patterson Field in the south-east opened in ______ despite being partly incomplete.
  23. Complete the sentence about Keflavík International Airport with the correct year: Meeks Field to the north-west opened on 23 March ______, where the airport is still located today.
  24. Complete the sentence about Keflavík International Airport with the correct year: In ______, a passenger terminal was built by the Lockheed Overseas Aircraft Service.
  25. Complete the sentence about Icelandic sheepdog with the correct year: In ______ it was classified by Johann Friedrich Gmelin as a species, Canis islandicus.
  26. Complete the sentence about Icelandic sheepdog with the correct year: In ______ a breed society was established, the Deild Íslenska Fjárhundsins or Icelandic Sheepdog Breed Club.
  27. Complete the sentence about Icelandic sheep with the correct year: The number of sheep peaked at about 891000 in ______, equivalent to roughly four sheep for every resident of Iceland.
  28. Complete the sentence about Geothermal power in Iceland with the correct year: In ______, an international energy crisis began, subjecting Iceland to highly volatile oil prices and an uncertain energy…
  29. Complete the sentence with the correct year: In ______, two 45 MW turbines were added with steam from Skarðsmýrarfjall Mountain.
  30. Which place completes this sentence about Húsavík? Until 2024, there were regular flights to ______ Airport.
  31. Which place completes this sentence about Keflavík? In 1995, Keflavík merged with nearby Njarðvík and Hafnir to form the municipality of ______.
  32. Which place completes this sentence about Þingvellir National Park? Since 1881, the parliament has been located within Alþingishúsið in Iceland's capital, ______.
  33. Which place completes this sentence about Dettifoss? Dettifoss is located on the Diamond Circle, a popular tourist route around ______ and Lake Mývatn in North Iceland.
  34. Which place completes this sentence about Dynjandi? Dynjandisheiði is a mountain pass over the falls that contains the first-built car-accessible road to ______.
  35. Which place completes the sentence? The lake can be seen from Route 1 between ______ and Skaftafell.
  36. Which place completes this sentence about Askja? The Astronaut Monument in ______ lists the 32 astronauts who participated.
  37. Which place completes this sentence about Surtsey? The undersea vents that produced Surtsey are part of the ______ submarine volcanic system, part of the fissure of the sea floor called the Mid-Atlant…
  38. Which place completes this sentence about Surtsey? Another station in ______ recorded even weaker tremors for ten hours on 12 November at an undetermined location, when seismic activity ceased until 2…
  39. Which place completes this sentence about Eldfell? The ______ archipelago was settled in about 874 AD, originally by escaped Insular slaves belonging to Norse settlers on the mainland.
  40. Which place completes this sentence about Eldfell? From 23:00 until 01:34 on 23 January, seven tremors were detected that grew shallower and more intense, while the epicenter moved closer to the town…
  41. Which place completes this sentence about Perlan? In 1939, a single hot water tank was constructed on Öskjuhlíð hill in ______, where Perlan stands today.
  42. Which place completes this sentence about Sun Voyager? The full-sized Sun Voyager was eventually unveiled on Sæbraut on the birthday of the city of ______, 18 August 1990.
  43. Which place completes this sentence about Hofsós? Hofsós, with a population of about 200 individuals, is located 37 km east from ______.
  44. Which place completes the sentence? The largest settlement is ______, with a population of 2,679.
  45. Which place completes the sentence? The largest town in the region is ______, with a population of 2,632.
  46. Which place completes this sentence about Eastfjords? The only car and passenger ferry that sails between Iceland and the European continent calls at ______ once a week except in the winter season.
  47. Which place completes this sentence about Grímsey? Grímsey Airport has a 1,036m north–south runway on the west side of the island, with regular flights to ______.
  48. Which place completes this sentence about Hrísey? Since 2004, the island has been a part of the municipality of ______, having previously been a municipality in its own right.
  49. Complete the sentence about Reykjanesbær with the correct year: In ______, when the United States Navy closed Naval Air Station Keflavik, the site was taken over by the development agency Kadeco and r…
  50. Complete the sentence about Höfn with the correct year: Recently a song in the ______ Bollywood movie "Dilwale" has been shot in the surrounding areas.
  51. Complete the sentence about Stykkishólmur with the correct year: In ______ Árni Thorlacius built a large house for his home and companies, the Norwegian house, which has been renovated and accommodate…
  52. Complete the sentence about Stykkishólmur with the correct year: When the favorable position of Stykkishólmur was discovered in ______, a trading post was founded at the site.
  53. Complete the sentence about Stykkishólmur with the correct year: Egilsenshús is a wooden house dating from ______ which belonged to a Danish merchant.
  54. Complete the sentence about Stykkishólmur with the correct year: The port was used by Icelanders emigrating to North America. ______ saw a peak in emigration with over 70 people leaving the port.
  55. Complete the sentence about Neskaupstaður with the correct year: The building of an aluminum smelter and a new hydroelectric power-plant in East Iceland in ______ reinvigorated the local economy.
  56. Complete the sentence about Keflavík with the correct year: With increasing ranges for aircraft and the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the base became less important, and the last U.S. personnel wer…
  57. Complete the sentence about Þingvellir with the correct year: Since ______, the parliament has been located within Alþingishúsið in Iceland's capital, Reykjavík.
  58. Complete the sentence about Þingvellir with the correct year: The park was later expanded to protect the diverse and natural phenomena in the surrounding area and was designated as a World Heritage Si…
  59. Complete the sentence about Þingvellir with the correct year: Þingvellir became a national park as a result of legislation passed in ______ to protect the remains of the parliament site, thus creating…
  60. Complete the sentence about Þingvellir with the correct year: The Alþingi was Iceland's legislative and chief judicial authority for the duration of the Commonwealth, until ______.
  61. Complete the sentence about Gullfoss with the correct year: The waterfall was later sold to the Icelandic government and was made a permanent conservation site in ______.
  62. Complete the sentence about Gullfoss with the correct year: Gullfoss is the setting of the music video for the ______ single "Heaven" by the band Live.
  63. Complete the sentence about Skógafoss with the correct year: The ______ Bollywood movie Dilwale features the waterfall was one of the locations of the song "Gerua".
  64. Complete the sentence about Langjökull with the correct year: Research shows that the outlet glaciers Norðurjökull and Suðurjökull reached as far as lake Hvítárvatn until about ______ but have retreat…
  65. Complete the sentence about Askja with the correct year: In June ______, Volcano expert Hazel Rymer said seismic activity was increasing at Askja.
  66. Complete the sentence about Bárðarbunga with the correct year: The Veiðivötn eruption in ______ is the largest known Icelandic eruption, with a VEI of 6.
  67. Complete the sentence about Bárðarbunga with the correct year: On 26 September ______, an earthquake swarm was recorded with over 30 earthquakes measuring up to 3.7MW on the moment magnitude scale.
  68. Complete the sentence about Fagradalsfjall with the correct year: The ______ eruption is the first to be observed on this branch of the plate boundary in Reykjanes.
  69. Complete the sentence about Þórsmörk with the correct year: During the spring ______ eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull, much of the area was covered in a thick layer of volcanic ash.
  70. Complete the sentence about Reykjanes with the correct year: In ______, the first Icelandic lighthouse was erected near Valahnúkur.
  71. Complete the sentence about Highlands of Iceland with the correct year: The most famous of these volcanoes in recent times is Eyjafjallajökull, which erupted in ______.
  72. Complete the sentence about Great skua with the correct year: The great skua was described from the Faroe Islands and Iceland by the Danish zoologist Morten Thrane Brünnich in ______ under the binomia…
  73. Complete the sentence about Great skua with the correct year: Unusual behaviour by St Kilda's skuas was recorded in ______ during research into recent falls in the Leach's storm petrel population.
  74. Complete the sentence about Fjord with the correct year: In ______, some coral reefs were discovered along the bottoms of the Norwegian fjords.
  75. Complete the sentence about Iceland with the correct year: During the occupation of Denmark in World War II, Iceland voted overwhelmingly to become a republic in ______, ending its remaining formal ti…
  76. Complete the sentence about Krýsuvík with the correct year: As all the estate farms in Iceland, Krýsuvík had its own small proprietary church, in this case from the 13th century until ______.
  77. Complete the sentence about Kerlingarfjöll with the correct year: Since ______, Kerlingarfjöll has been operated as a highland resort, offering accommodation and food services to guests in the area.
  78. Complete the sentence about Eyjafjörður with the correct year: As they are not visible on the surface, when the Icelandic Coast Guard did not detect the vent chimneys, they declared the vents non-exis…
  79. Complete the sentence about Eyjafjörður with the correct year: In ______ divers Erlendur Bogason and Árni Halldósson and German research submersible HOV JAGO separately explored them and identified th…
  80. Complete the sentence about Húnaflói with the correct year: Since 1 January ______, all of Hrútafjörður falls within the municipality of Húnaþing vestra in the Northwestern Region.
  81. Complete the sentence about Breiðafjörður with the correct year: Thorverk was first established in ______ by the local farmers and the Icelandic state.
  82. Complete the sentence about Faxaflói with the correct year: During the 12th century, a chapel was constructed, and a monastery was founded in ______, existing until the Protestant Reformation at the e…
  83. Complete the sentence about Drangey with the correct year: In late autumn of ______, Grettir was assassinated where he lay dying in his shed on the island. Þorbjörn Öngull and his men were the perpetr…
  84. Complete the sentence about Patreksfjörður with the correct year: In ______, the introduction of a national fishing quota by the Icelandic government prompted many residents of the historically self-s…
  85. Complete the sentence about Flateyri with the correct year: On October 26, ______, an avalanche hit the village, destroying 29 homes and burying 45 people, which resulted in 20 fatalities.
  86. Complete the sentence about Súðavík with the correct year: At a public meeting on 23 January ______ it was decided that the village should be rebuilt at a safer location.
  87. Complete the sentence about Ólafsfjörður with the correct year: The municipalities of Ólafsfjörður and Siglufjörður merged in ______ to form the municipality of Fjallabyggð, which literally means Moun…
  88. Complete the sentence about Ólafsfjörður with the correct year: The Múlagöng or Ólafsfjarðargöng tunnel was opened on March 1, ______, connecting Dalvík and Ólafsfjörður.
  89. Complete the sentence about Vopnafjörður with the correct year: Little is known about the history of Vopnafjörður after Iceland lost its independence to Norway in ______.
  90. Complete the sentence about Eskifjörður with the correct year: In ______ Kjartan Þórlaksson, the first Icelandic merchant who was not a Dane, settled down in Eskifjörður and started a successful busin…
  91. Complete the sentence about Eskifjörður with the correct year: The Maritime Museum of East Iceland is located in a commercial building, "Gamla búđ", which was built in ______.
  92. Complete the sentence about Eskifjörður with the correct year: The First Free Church in Iceland was built in Eskifjörður in ______.
  93. Complete the sentence about Fáskrúðsfjörður with the correct year: Fáskrúðsfjörður was home to a hospital founded to serve French fishermen working here until ______.
  94. Complete the sentence about Fáskrúðsfjörður with the correct year: Vattarnesviti is an orange lighthouse on the peninsula of Vattarnes in the northeast of Fáskrúðsfjörður built in ______.
  95. Complete the sentence about Djúpivogur with the correct year: In ______, the municipality of Djúpavogshreppur merged with Borgarfjarðarhreppur, Fljótsdalshérað and Seyðisfjarðarkaupstaður to form the…
  96. Complete the sentence about Kirkjubæjarklaustur with the correct year: The village became well known in Iceland during the Lakagígar volcano eruptions in ______.
  97. Complete the sentence about Kirkjubæjarklaustur with the correct year: The current church, constructed in ______, was built in memory of Rev.
  98. Complete the sentence about Hella, Iceland with the correct year: The village of Hella celebrated its founder by placing a memorial by the Rangá River in ______, marking 50 years since its founding.
  99. Complete the sentence about Eyrarbakki with the correct year: By about ______, however, Eyrarbakki lost its importance as a trading centre.
  100. Complete the sentence about Stokkseyri with the correct year: In ______, a replica of a fisherman's hut was erected in honor of Foreman Thuridur.

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